Blow-molded plastic containers, or bottles, are commonly used for packaging beverages and other liquid, gel, or granular products. Some containers benefit from the use of handles to facilitate a consumer's capability to lift the container and pour its contents. Smaller sized containers, such as 64 ounces and below, generally do not need handles because a consumer can readily grasp the sides of the container to manipulate the container. However, larger containers, such as gallon containers, may require some form of handle in order for a consumer to control the container while lifting or pouring its contents, especially with one hand.
The assignee of the present application has developed several blow-molded containers which are produced by bonding a completely separate, injection-molded plastic handle to a fully molded, plastic container. The containers and methods of manufacture are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,579 issued to Tobias et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,506 issued to Tobias et al.; U.S. patent application No. Ser. 08/694,348 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,754; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/837,563 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,324; and pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/049,162. The disclosures of all of the above referenced patents and patent applications are incorporated herein by reference.
The typical handle for being attached to a bottle has an elongate grip portion which is relatively thin in side elevation and which has substantially flat front and rear surfaces which are engaged between the palm and fingers of a person grasping the handle. Relatively uncomplicated configurations for handles have been utilized so that the handles are capable of being readily stacked for storage and stack fed to handle-to-bottle attachment equipment.
Although various known handles may function satisfactorily for their intended purposes, there is a need for a handle which is more comfortable to grasp than a handle having a flat, elongate grip. However, the ergonomic shape of the handle should not prevent the handle from being efficiently stacked and nested within a minimum of space with a plurality of identically configured handles so that the handles can be readily stored and machine fed to handle attachment machinery. In addition, the handles should be lightweight, inexpensive to manufacture, and capable of using recycled plastic for purposes including packaging of food.